This is the perfect project for erasing summer afternoon boredom or for a rainy day. You probably have everything you need laying around the house already, it's quick and super simple. There's also tons of room for creativity and is great for kids of all ages. My daughter loves to put on little shows and this is the perfect thing to let her imagination run wild!

{illustrations by Kayanna Nelson, not to be used for commercial purposes}

What you'll need:*Download the Stage and puppets templates here and here and print them out. *An empty box approximately the size of the stage template. We used this empty cracker box but a cereal box or other similar size would work just as well. *Scissors*Glue*Xacto Knife (adult use only)*Coloring supplies*Small dowels (bamboo skewers, popsicle sticks or even twigs from the yard would also work well!)

Step one:Have your child decorate the stage and puppets! Use crayons, markers, stamps, paint or glitter. You don't have to use the provided puppets either. Use the size as a template and have your child come up with their own characters or creatures. Step Two:Cut out the puppets on the dotted lines and gather your sticks and glue. Step Three:Put some glue around all the edges of one side of a puppet. Step Four:Put a little glue on the stick and place in the middle of the paper you just glued. Take the other side of that puppet and place it over the top of the side you glued and the stick. You want to create a "sandwich". Press down and let dry.

Step Five:Repeat with all your remaining puppets.Step Six:If your box has top flaps cut them off with scissors so that the top is completely open. Step Seven:Put some glue on the front of your box and glue the stage template to the front. Use your hands to smooth out any wrinkles and trim the paper if it's a little large like we did. Step Eight:This step is for adults only!! Using the Xacto knife cut through the template and the box along the dotted line to create an opening that becomes your stage. You're all done!

If you have older kids with longer attention spans have them color the inside of the box creating stage scenery. Or, you could glue some pretty decorative paper, or pictures from a magazine to the inside to make a scene. My five year old was too anxious to play with her theater to do this extra step but she did declare this to be an "excellent activity"!

You could also cut a small hole is the lower back of the stage and set a flashlight in the hole to create theater lighting. Set up a camera to record your show. Set it to music, or act out their favorite stories. Have fun with it!

Hi and welcome to Bloesem! My name is Irene Hoofs and I started this journal in 2008 wanting to share my passion for design, art and craft with you. In 2016 BloesemKids moved to a new url called BloesemDesign.com